Fidelity Group Donations Committee

About the Fidelity Donations Committee

Mission/Vision

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited is committed to providing support to the communities that make up the archeological nation of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

It is a commitment that goes beyond offering financial products, services and expertise that help thousands of Bahamian families; and includes giving away thousands of dollars each year to activities which support community development and improve the socio-economic conditions of Bahamians.

Donation Committee Members & Volunteers

The Donations Committee comprises of five (5) persons and was created to centralize and expedite the immense amount of charity requests received by the Bank throughout the year. Based on the Fidelity’s guiding philosophy of “we’re good for you”, the Donations Committee's primary goal is to contribute to the creation and maintenance of educational and vocational opportunities for youth in The Bahamas. We are a proponent of the principle “it takes a village to raise a child.” The Donations Committee meets twice per month. During these meetings, the Donations Committee reviews all charity requests and also considers/creates community initiatives which Fidelity may sponsor that are in line with Fidelity’s core values, i.e. youth development and education.

Voluntary Support Hours Program

While Fidelity has donated finances to charitable causes and organizations throughout the year, Fidelity staff also donate their time to projects that serve the community. Since the creation of Fidelity’s Volunteer Program, Fidelity staff have served over 1,000 man-hours.

Fidelity staff have volunteered at the following events and charities:

Bahamas National Feeding Network’s Sunday Feeding Program
Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre’s Serenity Garden
Trinity Methodist Church’s Soup Kitchen
Naomi Blatch Preschool

Fidelity Volunteers

It takes more than dollars to make a difference. Our employees proudly volunteer countless hours to positively impact the lives of the people who live in our communities.

At Fidelity Bank, our aim is to make it easy for our employees to be involved because of three important reasons:

Community Support: It helps meet community needs by providing essential skills to our non-profit partners which serve to increase their capacity to address critical community needs.
Supporting our Employees’ Interests: It supports our employees' interests by providing skill building and leadership development opportunities in conjunction with their efforts to support causes which matter most to them.
Supporting the Fidelity vision of “being good for you”: Fidelity aims to be preferred organization that connects itself with what is good for the socio-economic conditions of The Bahamas.

Fidelity maintains a network of eighty-five (85) employee volunteers.

Requesting Support

Thank you for inviting us to support your charitable initiative. So that we may give your request full consideration, please complete and return your letter of request at least 30 days prior to your event or initiative. You may send your letter via email: FGDonationsCommittee@fidelitybahamas.com

We receive many donation requests each year and while we cannot support all of them our aim is to spread as much of the funding available to us as possible; in particular, focusing on smaller reputable charities that may not be as well-known in the community.

Charity of the Quarter

We are excited to partner with a new charitable organization each quarter. We ask our customers to donate to the charitable organizations or causes through the Charity Boxes placed at each branch and in turn Fidelity matches these contributions $1 for $1 up to $10,000. Fidelity does this in order to support the charitable work of numerous non-profit organizations! Charities which we have donated to include:

The Bahamas Feeding Network

Bre’Anne’s Care Closet

Trinity Methodist Church’s Soup Kitchen

We are very excited to raise support for charities in need which may not necessarily be prominent with the community, however, which provide necessary outreach within our community.

Giving Bank

Financial Support Program

Fidelity has an annual commitment to several charitable causes and organizations. These include:

The Lyford Cay Foundation’s FOCUS ProgrammeFidelity donated $50,000 to assist at-risk youth as part of the Lyford Cay Foundation’s FOCUS programme over a five year period. The programme, whose mission is to “assist underserved, academically motivated students, reach their full potential” launched in 2011. Its overall objective is to help students overcome academic obstacles and set them on a path to college and career success. FOCUS, an acronym for Forward, Onward to College Upward to Success, grew out of the need to help prepare students for college. The weekend and summer sessions follow a project-based learning curriculum. This is to assist students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge. FOCUS is facilitated by interns who are College of The Bahamas students.
The Seahorse Instititute Fidelity has committed an annual scholarship of $26,000 to The Seahorse Institute for students with Autism and related developmental delays. Autism is a lifelong, complex, neurobiological disorder characterized by varying degrees of communication, socialization and behavior impairments. While the statistics for The Bahamas is unknown, Autism is considered the fastest growing developmental disability in the country. The Seahorse Institute, a non-profit center, is at the forefront in providing scientific-research based intervention care for children with Autism and relates disabilities. The Centre provides a comprehensive curriculum that specializes in the acquisition of language, communication skills, pre-academic and academic independent functioning and socialization skill areas.
Trinity Methodist Church’s Soup Kitchen Each year, Fidelity donates grocery bags to the Trinity Methodist Church’s Soup Kitchen, helping feeding over 500 persons during the Christmas holiday. Each of the grocery bags donated contains enough food to feed a family of four for one week. Fidelity also donates turkeys for the Soup Kitchen’s pre-Christmas dinner where an estimated 500 persons are fed each year. Trinity’s Soup Kitchen regularly serves hot lunches to up to 200 persons in need every Tuesday. Additionally, they keep a register of persons who at Christmas time receive gifts (for the children) and bags of toiletries (for the adults).

MARQUEE SCHOOL FOR FIDELITY SUPPORT – Naomi Blatch Preschool

In 2016, Fidelity adopted Naomi Blatch, a publicly run preschool off Blue Hill Road and directly behind our Wulff Road branch. The school caters to students aged 4 through 5. Each year, Fidelity supplies uniforms for each student enrolled in the school, in addition to school supplies, in partnership with Nassau Paper Company. These items are presented during an annual one day Back to School fair. During this event, each child is provided with a sleeping mat, a lunch eating mat, black and white books, coloring books and crayons along with a tote bag, which parents had been informed during registration they would not have to purchase. In addition, Fidelity staff volunteers take time to expose parents to what a healthy lunch pack for their children should entail as they gave out lunch sacks filled with fruit offerings.

Fidelity also recently outfitted a computer lab and resource room for the school inclusive of computers, listening centers, wireless internet and a projector system. Dubbed the Fidelity Kids Corner, the room is outfitted with computers, listening centers, new shelving and furniture. The Brighter Bahamas Foundation partnered with Fidelity to provide books appropriate for preschoolers, with a donation of 300 books to the reading and resource room.

Bain and Grants Town Member of Parliament, Travis Robinson, praised Fidelity for its work in creating a safe, 21st century learning space for children. “I commend the leadership of Fidelity for giving back to the community and its continued sponsorship of Naomi Blatch Preschool, particularly by creating a place where these students can develop their literacy skills.” he said.

FIDELITY PAYS FOR A’s

The Fidelity Pays for “A”s Education Plan (the Plan) was launched by Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust Limited (RFMBT) in November 2013 in memory of Phillippa Ferguson-Wilson, a former member of RFMBT’s management team. The Plan is open to all employees of Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited (FBBL) and RFMBT. As of 31st August 2017 there are 81 children enrolled in the Plan.

The Plan comprises two (2) components:

Recognition and Reward for Grade “A” Student Achievers (aka “The Academic Plan”)
The Academic Plan comprises three (3) award programmes: (1) Report Card - “A” Grade Awards, (2) Core Examinations (BJC and BGCSE) – National Student Achiever Awards and (3) Student Achiever Awards - 6th Grader and 12th Grader. At the launch of the Plan in November 2013, there was a total of 42 students enrolled in The Academic Plan. As of 31st August 2017, there is a total of 63 students enrolled in The Academic Plan.
Education Savings Plan
The Education Savings Plan aims to incentivize our employees to save separately for the education costs of their children. They may establish a FPA Account and earn 5% interest per annum on deposited funds.
Once per year, Fidelity hosts an awards ceremony highlighting students’ achievements over the course of the academic year. In 2017, forty-four (44) students were recognized for ‘A’ grades during the 2016-2017 academic year. All awardees are also featured on the FPA wall.